Of the Desert
by Word Bender
Summary: A series of Temari centric drabbles. Some have pairings. Most have pairings, actually. Depends on my mood. Why read this? Cause Temari puts the fan in fangirl.
1. Rain

So this is my small tribute to Temari. 'Cause she's too cool for words. And I try to type them anyways. Yeah. I'll definitly be typing more of these, 'cause I luffs Temari-chan.

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It was raining. 

Hard, fat, wet droplets that poured onto the hungry sands of Sunagakure like a flower soaks up the sun. It was the end of the summer, and the desert was still a rolling wave of heat.

But today.

And tonight.

It rained.

And she loved it. Standing outside her building, looking up into the sky, her sandy blonde hair plastered to her skull and face, she stood in a silent moment of reverence to the open clouds. She allowed herself these small aesthetic moments very rarely.

A shinobi wasn't supposed to feel.

Shuddering, she smiled up at the rain, feeling the beads roll off her soaked kimono and into the ever-thirsty desert.

How could she enjoy the rain so much and feel so cold?


	2. Stopped you

One review! Yay! Anywhoshe, here's the next, longer drabble. Just imagine that Temari and Co. didn't run away or get tagged as traitors at the start of the Chunnin tournament.

** WARNINGS: **Language, ShikaTem pairing-ish

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Temari glared at the ceiling. He beat her, he beat her. So why did he forfeit? Sure, he had said that it was because he had no other option, but she had been cornered! With the strategies he had come up with it should have been no problem for him to finish her with no problem. 

She turned over onto her side, her back to the hard wall of the hostel they had been staying at. Why hadn't he finished her? Why! It didn't make sense. And it made Temari feel like she was missing some piece of the puzzle that was supposed to be there. It made her feel like she didn't understand something. Glaring at the wall the Sand ninja growled under her breath and sat up on her bed. She hated not understanding.

Shikamaru came to the door after his father had yelled at him for the third time. What he saw was a most unpleasant and unexpected sight. That shinobi he had fought earlier that day. He glanced behind him at a clock on the wall. What had brought her here at this ungodly hour? And how had she found him?

"I want to talk to you."

He rolled his eyes. No shit. Why else would she be here?

"Why did you forfeit?" She asked, hard green eyes finding his dark ones.

Sighing, Shikamaru stepped off the small step that separated his doorway from the street. Temari took a step back, suddenly very much aware that she hadn't brought her fan with her. He narrowed his eyes. He had definitely explained this at least five times before. Once to Asuma and Ino, another time to Chouji, again to his parents, then to Naruto. Twice to Naruto.

Shikamaru sighed again and shook his head, leaning against the nearest roof support.

"I had run out of chakra and the drive to actually finish the match. Do you care to finish it now? I am moderately recovered, and I am sure I can incapitate you in time for me to get a decent nights sleep." He sighed again, not noticing or not caring about Temari's furious face. "This is really very troublesome, do you know what time it-" He was stopped by Temari's hot lips against his.

She pulled away and glared at the boy. "I stopped you before you stopped me." She growled, her eyes still hard. "And I did win the fight, even if you forfeited."

Turning on her heel, she marched stiff-backed down the road, towards her hotel.

Shikamaru blinked. Once, twice. And for the first time, he didn't know his next move.


	3. Not her fault

Thank you my luffly reviewers! I love you! Both of you!

Warnings: None. Slight pairing. Guess who it is? Based on an RP I saw on my Roleplay site, check it out, it's my homepage on my profile page. Seriously cool beans. Read and review, make my day.

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It wasn't her fault. Not really, at least. It was before the Chunnin exams, he was out on a recon mission from Konoha and she had been out training in the desert. 

He ditched his team and followed her home, to the Kazekage's house. He had snuck inside the complex disguised as a servant. She had seen through his feeble acting skills, genius that he was, he couldn't fool someone who had known every employee since birth. She helped him get out of Sand.

He let her follow him home.

She had 'Diplomatic Immunity'. She could have gone anywhere she wanted, but she wanted to escape the stupid politics and war games her father was playing with. So she followed the raven-haired boy back to Leaf.

Once there, she went to register for the exams, and was accosted by his fanclub. He defended her, and they went there separate ways again. He say her about to go into a run-down hotel to wait for the exams, and he offered her a room at his place, it wasn't like anyone else was there.

She accepted and they went to his house.

She heard him having a nightmare and woke him up. They talked, it was hard for both of them – neither had ever really opened up about their past. It wasn't her fault they had so much in common.

He started to like her, she started to like him back.

They had a mock fight, preparation for the exams coming up.

It wasn't her fault she fell.

It wasn't her fault she started to like the stupid boy.

It wasn't her fault he kissed her just as she hit the ground, straddling her, his kunai to her throat as he bent down.

It was her fault that she kissed him back.


	4. But Damn

This was especially fun to write. I dunno why. I just liked it.

Warnings: Language, character death. Blood. Just saying. I get a little graphic. No pairings, but if you really want to push it I would say ItaTem. -ish. Not really.

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First thought: _Damn._

Second thought:_ I am so screwed._

Third thought: _But_ damn.

Temari shook her head quickly, ridding her mind of all thought not letting her focus on the battle in front of her.

When Chiyo had aided the Konoha ninja against the Akatsuki members, she had no idea the consequences it would have on Sand. True, the old lady had died soon after her battle with Sasori, and true, they did need to recover the Kazekage, but Chiyo could have been a bit more subtle. Sighing Temari concentrated on the battle in front of her, mentally berating the deceased had never helped matters, and it certainty wouldn't help her in situation at present.

Still, it wasn't like she stood a snowballs chance in hell against the Akatsuki member that she now faced. Her fan was already out, her tight kimono even tighter as she tensed, surveying the dangerous situation in front of her.

Sexiness must have been another part of the Sharingan bloodlimit, because damn, the Uchiha brothers had to be the two most attractive men Temari had ever seen.

Temari's eyes narrowed as she realized that the elder brother wouldn't make the first move in this battle. He had already fought with five of the best puppeteers and ten more of the best ninja that Sand had placed under her command, with hardly three scratches to his name after the short-lived battles. The wind whipped around Temari as she surveyed the bloody man that stood only a sand dune away, his red and black cloak flying out behind him in the breeze.

Good.

He was already encompassed in wind; It would make her jutsu easier to perform.

"Kami-" She had just begun to move, her hands channeling chakra into her fan, her lithe body twisting forward, when she was stopped by a kunai at her throat. Temari glared at the Akatsuki, while his crimson eyes looked down impassively at the near-captured Sand ninja. He had captured her from behind, her bent back only a few inches from his exposed chest.

"You're fast." She muttered, daring to straighten up under the cold steel that pressed against her pulsing veins.

"Fast enough." The man muttered, his voice sliding over Temari.

Temari's eyes darted around as she tried to find a way out of the Uchiha's knife. She couldn't find any opening, if she moved her throat would be sliced open deeper than a canyon. If she tried to attack, same outcome. If she tried to escape using a jutsu, ditto.

"This is it then?" She asked calmly, her fan lying relaxed in her hand as she stared forward.

"It is."

"One favor before you kill me." Temari said boldly, knowing she would be dead in a few minutes anyway. She felt the steel blade press tighter against her throat as the Akatsuki member began to lose his patience for the kunoichi.

"As long as you still plan on dying."

Temari shook her head and scowled. Like she had an option, trapped as she was.

"Let me look at you as I die. If I have to see one last thing, I hope that it will be a pretty face." She held her breath, knowing that it was much more likely her head would be swiftly severed rather than her eyes allowed to look at the elder Uchiha's face. 

Suddenly, she felt the warm liquid flow down her neck. Her green eyes widened and her vision became blurry. Her mouth parted as blood began to bubble up through her damaged throat. Then, just as Temari lay dying, the thirsty desert soaking up her blood, she saw the face of Itachi Uchiha.

And she smiled.

Last thought: _Damn. Even prettier up close._

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Done! Read and review, and remember, I liked this chapter.  



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